Our Commitment to Sustainability

“Chateau Montelena Winery has been a pioneer in sustainability for over 40 years. In short, we were green before being green was trendy. When the Barrett’s restarted Montelena in the early 1970’s it was during the time of the hippies “back to the land” movement and the words we used then were “Environmentalism” and so forth." - Bo Barrett, CEO

We believe that sustainable business practices are an integral part of all good business practices.

Much of the reason I fell in love with Chateau Montelena and moved from L.A. to live on this magnificent tiny corner of our wonderful "water planet" came from this back-to-the-land movement and we have never wavered in our love of the land and our philosophy of being "careful stewards of the place."

Over the decades we have extended and refined this stewardship to be reflected in all aspects of our business - from farming to wine production to sales and marketing - all embody our philosophy of sustainability; it guides how we farm, the products we purchase, how we handle our waste, the construction and operation of our winery, and how we care for our community. Whether it's our 220KW solar array or the simple act of composting our coffee grounds, Chateau Montelena believes that sustainable business practices are an integral part of all good business practices. Think about it, from the original 1886 construction of Chateau, buried in the earth to control wine temperature (in the days before electricity and refrigeration), to our extensive use of naturally cooled caves & modern energy efficient systems, respect for the environment has always been a part of Chateau Montelena. Sustainability is not a goal or target that we are trying to achieve; it is the philosophy that is woven into everything we do. We are committed to being good stewards of our land and bringing the highest quality product to our customers. We're not claiming to be perfect or even idealists, but the fact is, we live and make our wines with an ongoing love for the environment of the planet and her passengers.

My friend and I visited while it was down pouring outside. They were very busy but still managed to help everyone enjoy tastings. We had the pleasure of having Sean do our tasting he was wonderful and very knowledgeable in the wines and history of the the Chateau. I was very impressed. This place is beautiful even on a rainy...